On 11/8/05 (4:40:43 AM MST), as part of a posting, Betty (bbffrrpp@comcast.net) wrote, By browsing at a few of the web sites offering a history of the Panama Canal, I also noted the comments that the Canal was built to hold the ships built in the 1910 era. And, now that we have much larger ships, built in the 1990 era, the Canal has become too small for them to pass through ! I didn't spend enough time at the web sites to find out if there is any "official," workable plan to either rebuild the Canal or build a new Canal nearby !" A vessel designed to be just small enough to transit the Panama Canal is called a "Panamax" vessel. Ships classified as Panamax are of the maximum dimensions that will fit through the locks of the Panama Canal, each of which is 1000 ft long by 110 ft wide and 85 ft deep. Thus, a Panamax ship will usually have dimension of close to 965 ft long (294m), 106 ft wide (32.3m) and a draft of 39.5 ft (12.04m). This is a tight fit that leaves little margin for piloting error. There are reports that China want to pay to widen the Panama Canal so that they can ship directly to the East Coast. I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting. Regards, Walter Greenspan